North Korea Agrees to Suspend Its Nuclear Program

By Steven Myers and Choe Sang-Hun, Feb 29, 2012 — WASHINGTON —North Koreaannounced on Wednesday that it would suspend itsnuclear weaponstests and uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors to monitor activities at its main nuclear complex. The surprise announcement raised the possibility of ending a diplomatic impasse that has allowed the country’snuclear program to continue for years without international oversight

The Obama administration called the steps “important, if limited.” But the announcement seemed to signal that North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong-un, is at least willing to consider a return to negotiations and to engage with the United States, which pledged in exchange to ship tons offood aidto the isolated, impoverished nation.

A freeze on nuclear activity, if it holds, could significantly ease anxieties over North Korea’s behavior at a time when the Obama administration, in an election year, is focused on halting Iran’s nuclear program and reducing the possibility that Israel could attack Iran. The last significant effort to negotiate a dismantling ofNorth Korea’s nuclear weaponscollapsed in the waning weeks of George W. Bush’s presidency more than three years ago. . . .